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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: MRS Commun. 2019 May 27;9(2):421–432. doi: 10.1557/mrc.2019.69

Figure 2: Biochemical signaling cues incorporated into 3D hydrogels for culture.

Figure 2:

(a) Schematic of functionalized SAP into nanofibullar structures, stabilized by hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, to deliver biochemical cues to encapsulated hMSCs. (b) Picture (grid = 5 mm) and SEM image (scale bar = 300 μm) of KLD hydrogel functionalized with N-cadherin mimetic peptide (KLD-Cad). (c) Time sweep rheology studies show comparable mechanical properties across functionalized KLD hydrogels but (d) differential intracellular signaling dependent on functional moiety. (e) Schematic of the KLD-Cad hydrogel binding to hMSC transmembrane N-cadherin proteins, which promotes GSK-3β facilitated ubiquitin-mediated degradation of cytoplasmic β-catenin and the expression of pro-chondrogenic factors in hMSCs. Modified from Ref. 19 with permission from Elsevier.